title: Thermodynamic signature of the dynamic glass transition in hard spheres.
abstract: We use extensive event-driven molecular dynamics simulations to study the thermodynamic, structural and dynamic properties of hard-sphere glasses. We determine the equation of state of the metastable fluid branch for hard spheres with a size polydispersity of 10%. Our results show a clear jump in the slope of the isothermal compressibility. The observation of a thermodynamic signature at the transition from a metastable fluid to a glassy state is analogous to the abrupt change in the specific heat or thermal expansion coefficient as observed for molecular liquids at the glass transition. The dynamic glass transition becomes more pronounced and shifts to higher densities for longer equilibration times.
authors.affiliation: Soft Condensed Matter Group, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University, Princetonplein 5, 3584 CC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hermes
authors.forename: Marjolein
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D005898:Glass; D006244:Hardness; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010316:Particle Size; D044367:Phase Transition; D010825:Physics / Q000379:methods*; D013816:Thermodynamics